I was watching random people play random Bonham beats on youtube and i realized so many Zeppelin songs can be instantly recognized just by the beat and it made me wonder what other songs are completely recognizable just by their beats. I don't think any other single drummer has as many as Bonham but there are for sure other songs. A google search didn't bring up anything even remotely related so I wanna start a list here. I hope you will all post songs you know of that are recognizable just by the beat.

Just to be clear not songs with great drum beats but songs that you'd be able to recognize if you heard a random drummer playing it alone in a music store.

Here are a few examples of what I mean.

Zeppelin:

Immigrant Song
The Ocean
When The Levee Breaks
Good Times Bad Times
Since I've Been Loving You

I take a little exception at Billie Jean though. While the drum intro is recognizable, and that's another topic, the beat is the standard, ubiquitous 2&4 "money beat" used in countless hits across various genres. Several others mentioned are also intro-specific, but the beats in the song are more generic and widely-used.

Billion Dollar Babies and Are We Not Men? are quite unique however, those wouldn't have come to mind even though they're from a few of my favorite groups!

Totally agree. It's a money beat......the single most common 4/4 pattern used in popular music. Take the music away and it could be one of a million tracks.

Yep.

I use that in my clinic when talking about how the drum parts don't always define the song/genre. For example, playing a funk song doesn't (necessarily) mean playing a funky, busy beat. I play straight time, and ask what genre/style it is. Nobody gets it right, and everybody gets it right. A single beat usually applies to a LOT of songs. I've been accused of being able to play a lot of styles with Al, when in fact I'm mostly playing 2 & 4 while the guitar, bass & keys actually define the style.

That said, there are indeed some signature beats that seem to exist only in one song. But they shouldn't be confused with a specific intro, fill, or in Bonham's case in particular, the sound.

Not only are the guitar intro and the drum fill leading into the first verse instantly recognizable all on their own, Stan Lynch's hi-hats are beautifully played throughout, and I (even though I admittedly love the track) am pretty sure that I would recognize it out of the blue.

I use that in my clinic when talking about how the drum parts don't always define the song/genre. For example, playing a funk song doesn't (necessarily) mean playing a funky, busy beat. I play straight time, and ask what genre/style it is. Nobody gets it right, and everybody gets it right. A single beat usually applies to a LOT of songs. I've been accused of being able to play a lot of styles with Al, when in fact I'm mostly playing 2 & 4 while the guitar, bass & keys actually define the style.

That said, there are indeed some signature beats that seem to exist only in one song. But they shouldn't be confused with a specific intro, fill, or in Bonham's case in particular, the sound.

Bermuda

Money beat yes, but that just makes it harder to distinguish from other songs.
Ndugu Chancler hit the spot and even non musicians recognises the song instantly.

Yea, that's an interesting one. It's even simpler than the "money beat" in Billie Jean, but it's the tempo and inflection that makes sure we instantly know that quite soon we will hear the robot voice... "I AM IRON MAN"! Not only can I pick it out easy... At an open jam or something, all you have to do is hit your kick drum with the right speed and everyone just knows what to play.

There are lots of them that use a regular beat after an intro (as Bermuda pointed out), but here's a few more that I think are truly recognizable from the beat... I don't think these have been mentioned.

Once in A Lifetime - Talking Heads
Golden Brown - Stranglers
Go Your Own Way - Fleetwood Mac
What She Said - The Smiths
U Can't Touch This - MC Hammer
Kingston Town - UB40
Zombie - The Cranberries (one of my own personal favourite tracks of all time)
Chop Suey - System Of A Down (surprised it was not already listed)
Learn To Fly - Foo Fighters
In The Air Tonight - Phil Collins
Atomic - Blondie

(I might go so far as to say many(non-drummers of course ;) would be fooled by Rosanna(Porcaro) vrs Fool In The Rain(Bonham) vrs Home At Last(Steely Dan-Aja-Purdie)...as opposed to saying they are distictive)